Good customer relations build the foundation for successful businesses.
Customers represent the lifeline of a company. Without customers, goods and services go unused, and the bottom line suffers. That means when you provide excellent customer care, you're also indirectly supporting your company's success.
There are basically two types of customers. External customers pay for the goods or services you provide. Internal customers provides the goods and services. In other words, they're your co-workers. The idea of thinking of staff in similar terms to clients and customers may seem different, but it's a highly effective way of boosting performance.
Internal Customers
The happiness of internal customers is determined by being alert and paying on-going attention. Set reasonable standards, offer people real career-building tools, listen to problems and find resolutions. Keeping your word builds trust, while broken promises leads to turnover that costs you money.
Keep internal customers informed of changes, get them involved in the corporate vision, Let them have a real voice and know that it's heard. Show appreciation for good work. Before you know it, there'll be no need to hunt down resumes for openings because there won't be any. People want to stay where they're happy and secure.
When you have happy, motivated staff members that fit and support your culture, you have a strong company with positive morale. That creates a positive work environment internally that eventually has an impact on external customers' experience.
External Customers
Many of the keys to satisfied internal customers apply to external ones too. Communication, showing appreciation, being timely with service, courtesy and generally getting the right product or service to the client the first time all matter. External customers naturally show more interest in your company when problems arise. That's human nature. However, if you're ready, willing and able to attend to that problem without inconvenience to the customer, you'll probably end up with a long-term relationship.
Another good way to build positive customer relationships is by keeping in touch with useful information that doesn't scream "sales material." External customers get bombarded with all manner of media campaigns and that rare piece of mail from a company that's truly useful sets you apart. For example, after a service call send out a satisfaction survey. Use that survey as part of employee evaluations. This let's your customers know you value their input and experience. If they fail to return the cards, pick up the phone. Going the extra mile makes the difference between success and failure, particularly in a consumer market.
Satisfaction: Learning to Listen
The most valuable skill in maintaining good customer relations is the art of listening. Yes, knowing talk diplomatically, make effective presentations, soothe anger and provide enthusiasm all matter too, but if you're not a good listener, you'll never be able to build the bridge between yourself and the end user. Active listening skills don't come naturally to many people, so consider having an in-house course for everyone. Your staff need effective communications skills with each other and clients. Everyone benefits.
The discriminating consumer seeks satisfaction. They want buying power and excellent quality for the price paid. It's really that simple. Determining the exact good or service desired, however, requires a sensitive ear. When you listen and pay attention, clients respond in kind.
Employee Training
Inadequately trained employees often underperform and provide low-quality customer service. When employees feel uncertain or under-skilled it leads to apathy. Create ways in which your staff members can reach their full potential in their tasks. Motivate, initiate and facilitate their success in terms of corporate culture, branding and knowledge. You'll be rewarded with overall company success and much happier customers.
Corporate Culture, Climate and Reputation
Your business culture, objectives and policies influence the kind of customers you obtain and how long you keep them. Companies need clear, understandable lines of communication on these matters, a healthy work climate and a good word-of-mouth reputation to survive.
Employees offer a letter of introduction to your corporate ethics and styles by the ways they communicate to the customer. If they don't "get it," neither will the client, and you risk losing that transaction. Staff members who patronize, who lack patience or have unimpressive work ethics do not make for good internal customers and reflect badly on external customers.
Know your Clients; Adding Value
To keep client relationships healthy, you have to know them and make them feel valued. Using sales as an example, a customer who feels hurried or pressured by a salesperson very likely won't buy. No matter the industry, being able to read your clients and their preferences is critical.
Adding value to a customer's experience isn't difficult, but it may take some ingenuity. For example, have a secretary gather small pieces of information shared by the client into a file. The next time the customer calls, ask about the new dog, the garden or anything else personally significant and you've transformed the experience greatly and provided emotional value. At that instant, the client became a real person, not just a sales figure. That kind of customer service counts, and keeps people coming back time and time again.
